MILWAUKEE — A program sponsored by Marquette University's College of Education and NBA star Dwyane Wade is having significant success maintaining the literacy of inner-city school children, according to numbers released Dec. 19 by the university.

School children tend to experience educational losses over the summer, but low income students, who often keep up with their peers from middle and upper-class backgrounds during the school year, tend to suffer greater losses.

Nevertheless, all of the 131 second and third graders who participated in Marquette University's Dwyane Wade "Live to Dream" Summer Reading Program in the last three years managed to maintain their reading level over the summer, and a small majority even increased it.

A $195,000 gift to the university's Ralph C. Hartman Literacy and Learning Center in 2014 from Wade, a former Marquette basketball star, has helped fund the program, according to a press release by the university. The program will run through at least 2020.

The program is open to all students from sixth grade through high school. According the workshop's Facebook event page, "This four-hour workshop will empower youth with the tools to speak out publicly against Islamophobia and Antisemitism, while also building relationships between diverse communities."

While some protestors appeared outside the commencement venue, Martin spoke with the full support of both the bishop of the local diocese and the university.

"Misericordia University has followed the protocol expected of a Catholic university in extending an invitation to Father Martin to serve as its commencement speaker," Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera told The Citizen's Voice in an emailed statement.

University official Paul Krzywicki told WNEP "Part of the mission at Misericordia is everyone is welcome here on campus and Fr. Martin is included in that."

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Loras College is launching a post-baccalaureate premedical program, according to a Dec. 21 press release by the college.

While medical schools do not demand that students complete a specific major to enroll, medical students are expected to have completed a core set of classes before being admitted.

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The new program at Loras College will provide the needed coursework for those who have completed an undergraduate degree without this core set of classes but wish to continue their studies in medicine, optometry, dentistry, podiatry, physical therapy, physician assistant, or veterinary medicine.

"Students will be advised and guided by a dedicated premedical advisor, strategically prepared for the MCAT exam, observe and learn from doctors in hospitals and clinics, and receive a detailed committee letter of recommendation for medical school," Jim Collins, the college's president, said in the press release.

[James Dearie is an NCR Bertelsen intern. Contact him at jdearie@ncronline.org.]